Cuomo misses a chance to defend Obama

There wasn’t much of note in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s chat with Fred Dicker on Talk 1300, which mostly centered around this morning’s Siena poll, but here’s how Gov. Andrew Cuomo answered when asked to opine on the Obama administration’s recent decision to require Catholic hospitals to provide coverage for contraception, which is contrary to church teaching.

There have been strong denunciations from Catholic leaders like New York City Archbishop Timothy Dolan, and many priests have mentioned it in weekly homilies. (I know that from experience, and you can also take this parenthetical as full disclosure.)

“I am a Catholic as you know, Fred, and the the issues that pose the Catholic church against government policy are especially difficult for all of us, especially those of us who happen to be Catholic, and I’ve dealt with it on a number of issues and I’ve watched it almost all my life. This is a federal issue, so I’ll leave it to the federal government — I have enough issues on my plate, and it’s an issue that’s before the courts, and the judiciary in a situation like this might be the final arbiter,” he said. “It’s a federal policy. I’ll leave it to the Obama administration.”